Group Organizes to Protect Goshen Cemetery

DIAS CREEK – Over 30 people crowded Fellowship Hall at the Dias Creek United Methodist Church. They came with a mission, to protect the rights of the interred and their families at the cemetery adjacent to the former Goshen Methodist Church, now the Church of St. Babs. 
To those in the area, the story behind the Goshen church is known. The church on Route 47 in Goshen sat vacant for years after its shrinking congregation could no longer support it.  
The United Methodist Church of Greater New Jersey, a regional body with oversight of over 500 churches in the state, sold the structure and its cemetery to Will Keenan, an actor, and filmmaker.
Keenan closed on the church property in January 2016 and reopened it in the spring as the Church of St. Babs, named after his recently-deceased mother.
Keenan says his purpose at St. Babs is to create a spiritual oasis in Goshen dedicated to addiction recovery, promotion of the arts, and spirituality.
The Goshen church is over 100 years old with Civil War veterans buried in its cemetery. Keenan established a foundation and transferred the property from his sole ownership to the foundation. He then set about seeking funds to support renovations at the church.
That was when controversy erupted.
Keenan advertised for a Halloween Scare involving ghost walks through the cemetery, a buried-alive experience in a dugout grave which he says was off the cemetery proper, reports of séances which he claims never took place, and a “Zombie Prom,” along with Keenan doing readings from Edgar Alan Poe.
The Halloween event was seen by many individuals as disrespectful to those buried in the cemetery and their families. Faced with the opposition of members of the community, Keenan scaled back his Halloween event. The concerns that had been raised were not as easy to overcome.
Donald and Eileen Douglass took the issue to Middle Township Committee. From there, the Douglass, Herr and Reed families started their own non-profit organization which has 77 members, according to the closed group page on Facebook. It was this organization that held its meeting at the Dias Creek church hall.
Eileen Douglas made clear that she does not expect Keenan to repeat the Halloween Scare, but the event “made us realize there is no oversight of the proper use of the cemetery,” she said.
The group of concerned families, many of whom still live in the community, have retained the services of attorney Robert Fineberg with the intention of protecting “the cemetery, the rights of the interred, and their families, friends and plot holders.”
According to Fineberg, who addressed the meeting in the Dias Creek hall, the group is seeking a formal, legally-binding agreement, which spells out requirements for the cemetery and restricts the deed accordingly.
The deed restrictions are crucial to Eileen Douglas who worries that the property could be sold again without constraints on the cemetery.
As the group told stories of loved ones buried at the old Goshen cemetery, it was clear that their concerns went beyond the Halloween event that many in the group felt was disrespectful and inappropriate.
The real concern is that the Methodist conference placed no restrictions on the deed to the cemetery when it was sold, leaving it open to future controversies over what is and what is not an appropriate use and what the rights are of families with loved ones there or with plots for their own future use.
Fineberg was clear that achieving the deed restrictions on the use of the cemetery could require going to court if negotiations are not successful. 
He pointed to the large group that had turned out for the meeting as evidence of wide community support if the courts did have to become involved.
The state Methodist conference wrote a letter to the group which pointed to parts of the agreement of sale which contained language that, it said, required Keenan to follow all state requirements for the care and use of a cemetery. No specific requirements were attached to the deed.
Fineberg said that state cemetery laws do apply to the now-St. Babs cemetery, but the organization of local families meeting in the hall seek a formal agreement specific to the cemetery, with the follow-on restrictions on the deed so that the use restrictions are carried forward by any future owner.
Churches do not divest cemeteries routinely, especially to private individuals. 
“This is a fairly unique situation,” Fineberg said.
The Friends of Goshen United Methodist Cemetery want to ensure that the uniqueness of the situation does not obscure the rights of the deceased and their families.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.